Talking Points on the Environment #1

...Remove tree stumps from your property and chunks of dirt fall into a
puddle of water. This could constitute filling a wet land, according to the
Army Corps of Engineers.

...Drain standing water on your property that collects for one week each
year during the spring thaw. North Dakota farmers were charged with destroying
habitat of migrating birds when they drained potholes in their fields that had
temporarily filled with water.

...Repair irrigation ditches. A rancher in Nevada was accused by
regulators of "redirecting streams" when he repaired a 75-year-old
irrigation ditch on his property.

...Make an addition to your home and the new structure casts a shadow on
land that fits the broad definition of a "wetland." James Mills, who
lives on the Broad Channel in New York state, was threatened with a $30,000
fine by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation for, among other
things, building a deck that casts a shadow on a wetland.

...Remove old tires and other garbage from your property and add clean
land-fill. Pennsylvania mechanic John Pozsgai was fined $202,000 and ordered
to serve three years in federal prison for making just such improvements to his
property.

...Do a favor for your state government. Idaho farmer Bud Koster permitted
Idaho Transportation Department officials to dispose of dirt and gravel that
had collected on the side of a snowplowed dirt road on a portion of his
pasture. He was later accused of illegally filling a wetland.